Monday, September 12, 2016

I’ve decided not to say goodbye to two of my favorite characters.

On July 13th
my latest book One More Time is Not Enough was published by Soul Mate Publishing, and so ended my first
romantic suspense series The Only One.

One More Time is Not Enough
is a steamy, romantic suspense novel guaranteed to keep you turning pages.
Adelia Lindstrom Bremen has a dilemma, she is in love with two men, and she
doesn’t know that she’s about to become the next target on a serial killer’s blacklist.

This is the story of a woman trying
to get her life back on track. A woman who instills passion and desire from the
two men who love her. The problem is, can they save her in time.

Bringing
this series to life was like riding a roller-coaster, it had its ups and downs.
The journey gifted me with valuable lessons and opportunities to improve my
writing. All in all, it’s proven to be one of the best experiences of my
writing career. The satisfaction of knowing that you put everything you have
into an endeavor, and then receiving the appreciation from readers that they
took the ride with you and found it thrilling. I want to thank my readers for
all of those five star reviews, keep them coming, and as for those one and two
stars, please keep them to yourself. Just kidding, couldn’t help myself.

Finishing a
series is a little akin to suffering from postpartum depression. It’s been hard
to say goodbye to a group of characters that occupied so much of my life, focus,
and energy. It’s almost like losing a dear friend, someone you can’t bear to
say goodbye to. But, if there’s one lesson we all must learn, it’s that life must
go on and so must we. As an author, a person who lives in their imagination,
you’re allowed to fiddle with the ending, or better yet, sometimes the end
doesn’t have to be the end. Sometimes, it can become a beginning. So, like many
other authors before me, I’ve decided to bring back two of my characters.

My next series is about an irresistible MOSSAD
Agent, a mole who is activated to save a young woman who’s been kidnapped and
taken to Iran. Saving Layla is the title
of the first book in the series that will be published in the next few months
by Hartwood Publishing. I’m writing the serial, I Will Not Forget You, and I’ve decided to bring back FBI Agent
David Weiss and his fiery redheaded boss and partner Cassandra Saladino. These
two super sleuths will provide an interesting contrast to my super-hero spy who
prefers to work alone and now must team up with the FBI.

I’ve given myself
an out this time. I’ve decided not to say goodbye to two of my favorite
characters. How long I can prolong saying goodbye, one never knows.

(Drum
roll please) my excerpt:

Chapter 1

FBI Training Academy Quantico, VA

The fall
day felt unseasonably hot, given the time of year. Like blood pooling from an
open wound, David Weiss felt a stain of sweat dampen his shirt. He squinted
into the sun. The blazing yellow ball burned with the intensity of a jet engine
flameout. The trees, festooned with colorful foliage, had begun to change into
what would become the reds of autumn. David adjusted his electronic shooting
earmuffs as he watched his roommate, Preston Lee Taylor, prepare to take his
turn on the shooting range for his pistol qualification course.

David observed a herd of whitetail deer
grazing within a few feet of the target range. He found it baffling that they
were oblivious to the repetitive gunfire that echoed in deafening succession.
Quantico’s wildlife were off-limits to hunters. What he found inexplicable was
how the deer knew they were safe.

A beep
sounded, announcing the beginning of stage one. Preston heard “Shooter ready?”
followed by a brief pause, and then, “Stand by.” Another beep indicated Preston
was free to fire. David watched Preston
go through all four stages of the marksmanship test. In a matter of minutes, he
had emptied fifty rounds into the Q target at various distances. He scored
ninety- eight percent, which was to be expected from a rural Georgia farm boy
who had learned how to shoot before he was old enough to wear long pants.

The instructor
gave Preston a thumbs-up. “Nice job, Preston. Congratulations.”

“Man, Press,
you sure laid down the gauntlet. We’ll have to see what we can do to wipe that
smirk off your face.”

David
walked to the twenty-five-yard starting position and laid down in the dirt
prone on his stomach with his arms extended, ready to begin. The beep sounded.
David fired off six rounds, then repositioned himself kneeling behind the
barricade. At the sound of the second beep, he fired three rounds one-handed
from his strong side. Without hesitation, he stood and fired six more then
switched hands and shot three more, ejected the spent magazine, reloaded, then
holstered his weapon. The entire exercise took less than a minute, fifteen
seconds.

He waited,
his mind already focused on his next phase. When he heard the command, he ran
from the twenty-five-yard line to the fifteen, drew his weapon, and fired two
rounds at the target within the six seconds allowed. He waited for the next
command, and then fired four strings of two rounds in three seconds. The last
stage prepared agents to return fire under stressful conditions up-close. David
moved to the five-yard line, fired five rounds with his strong hand, then quick
as lightning, ejected the magazine and reloaded, firing off five rounds with
his weak hand, unloaded the clip and holstered the empty Glock, his
qualification complete.

David could
see the hanging Q bottle at the end of the target range riddled with bullet
holes, and that he hadn’t missed his mark. He took a deep breath as he waited
for his score. When he heard the instructor whistle and say, “One hundred
percent, nice work,” he had to fight the shit-eating grin that threatened to
engulf his face. He turned and walked back to Preston. Preston stood with his head cocked to one side, his lips
curled with amusement. “Well, I’ll be hog-tied. Damn, if the Yeshiva boy didn’t
do it again. You sure you didn’t serve with the IDF before coming here?”

“Nope. Just
lucky, I guess.”

“Luck? Like
hell, luck has nothing to do with it. Come on Robocop, let’s go grab some grub,
I’m starving.”

David ate
slowly, wondering if the unpalatable food held any nutrients while Preston
pushed his plate away having polished off his burger in record time.

“So what
are you going to do about that woman? What’s her name, Dahlia?” Preston
persisted in returning to the conversation that David had tried to avoid.

“Her name’s
Adelia, and there’s nothing for me to do.”

“Man, you
rescued her children from that nut case sister-in-law of hers. You risked your
life saving those kidnapped kids. She owes you.”

“Press she
doesn’t owe me a thing. I’m the one that fell in love with a married woman.
Those kids are more important than our relationship. Besides, if it wasn’t for
the success of the rescue mission to Cuba I wouldn’t have been recruited by the
FBI. The way I see it, it all worked out for the best.”

“Even if
you’re right, I hate to see you pining away for her. I know you invited her to
graduation, so tell me again why she isn’t coming?”

“I told you
she has to be in California to meet with her attorney. I’ll say it again,
buddy, she begged me not to join the FBI. She knew that once I did it would be
impossible for us to continue our relationship. She’s not the kind of woman who
can be alone all of the time. She’s lost too much in her life, her marriage, her
parents, and the godfather that she trusted. Loving me would mean facing the
possibility of loss every day. I made the choice.”

“Was it
worth it?”

David tried
not to remember what loving Adelia felt like. “Yeah, I don’t regret a minute of
what we shared. She’s something special. I don’t expect to ever feel that way
again.” David’s gaze dropped to his hands that rested on the table. He felt the
discomfort that comes from laying bare one’s soul.

“Man,
you’ve got it bad . . .”

“I’m a big
boy, I’ll get over it. Come one, let’s hit the gym. We should be celebrating.”

Belle Ami Bio

Belle Ami
writes romantic/suspense with a teaspoon of sex. Her latest is entitled One More Time is Not Enough. Coming
2016/2017 Saving Layla will be
published by Hartwood Publishing. She lives in Southern California with her
husband, two children, a horse named Cindy Crawford, and her brilliant
Chihuahua, Giorgio Armani.

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A recipe that includes a dash of desperation, a smidgen of danger, a dollop of adventure and a healthy portion of passion. Sprinkle a happy ending on top and you have the perfect meal. - JUST ROMANTIC SUSPENSE